Ex-‘dark tourist’ Andrew Drury, 58, told danger zone vloggers “don’t do it” if their only motivation for travelling to some of the world’s riskiest places is to try and gain online clout
A former dark tourist-turned-journalist once shot at by ISIS has shared a grim warning for budding danger vloggers after an American YouTube star was kidnapped in Haiti.
Brit dad Andrew Drury, 58, from Guilford, Surrey, first got a taste for danger nearly 30 years ago and has since infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan, interviewed terror brides and travelled to the frontlines in Somalia. But while he understands the thrill for danger, Peter has shared a warning to budding vloggers keen to follow in the footsteps of popular danger tourists – namely, “don’t do it.”
It is impossible to go on YouTube and other popular streaming platforms and not come across vloggers venturing to some of the most dangerous places on Earth. Videos of twentysomethings being confronted in dangerous city suburbs, rubbing shoulders with gangsters or even taking in some target practice with the Taliban have a clear appeal to many and quickly rack up tens of thousands if not millions of views online.
While many vloggers network with locals and do clear research of the danger zones to avoid getting into sticky situations or possibly losing their lives, there are others who take a more brazen approach. Speaking to The Mirror, Drury hit out at the multitude of mistakes made by inexperienced filmmakers who he says open themselves up to unnecessary risks.
“The first thing you don’t do is vlog. They’re being stupid, bragging about where they are or where they are going,” Drury told The Mirror. “Don’t tell anyone you are going and don’t advertise where you are. Anyone can get your information. They’re being immature, without a doubt.
“I don’t send images or anything until I am back home, it’s basic stuff. I can’t believe they are so stupid, you might as well be asking to be taken. Why are they doing it? Is it to build their [online] stature up? It’s pure voyeurism, in fact it might be worse if it’s using someone’s misery to build up their stature.”
Drury then shared his personal code with The Mirror that anyone who wants to document, or film in a dangerous location should consider:
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Doing your research about the area – know the risks inside out
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Get Hostile Environment Awareness Training as a minimum
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Accept what you’ve got yourself into if you get caught
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Sort out a local guide for the area you’re travelling to
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Ask yourself why you’re doing it, and if it’s looking for clicks – don’t do it
His warning to fresh danger vloggers comes after American YouTuber Addison Pierre Maalouf, better known as YourFellowArab online, was allegedly kidnapped in Haiti where gangs are battling police for control of the failed state. Maaloud allegedly told other extreme travel YouTubers about plans to interview the infamous Haitian gang leader nicknamed “Barbecue.”
Drury is not naïve and understands the rush that putting your life on the line can give someone, but he admitted his view on danger tourism has soured in recent years. Now having made a full-time switch into journalism during the filming of his documentary “Danger Zone,” which puts thrill-seeker tourism under the spotlight, Drury said the process dramatically shifted his views on it.
“I started to change my mind while watching myself in the documentary,” he said. “It is voyeurism and since becoming a journalist, it’s given me a completely different view on it. I’d say to anyone wanting to get into it, don’t do it.”
The Mirror has contacted Maalouf for comment.